Page 6 of A Wolf’s Wound

Ryder

I may not have the answers as to why the councilman’s corpse is lying outside Hannah’s apartment building. But I know there’s no way I’m leaving Hannah alone right now.

I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and call one of the pack’s enforcers. “You need to get a group over here right now,” I tell him in lieu of hello. I relay Hannah’s address and hang up before he can ask anything else.

While I wait, I pace back and forth in front of the building. The smell has dissipated, as has my sense that Hannah’s in danger. I don’t think whoever did this is still here. Despite that, after the enforcers arrive, I send them off with the body and stay behind.

Once everyone is gone, I quickly head to Hannah’s apartment. I don’t knock on her door. I don’t even try the knob to make sure she locked it behind me. I just lean my head against the door, close my eyes, and try to bring my racing heart under control. I inhale Hannah’s scent, and it calms me.

Somehow, I know now that she’ll be safe tonight. And then I finally leave.

By the time I get home, the sun is just beginning to lighten the sky. I hope everyone will still be asleep, but when I let myself in, all of my brothers except Gavin are in the kitchen eating breakfast.

“Look who’s doing the walk of shame!” Evan jeers.

“Nice.” Lucas whistles as he raises his coffee mug to me in a sardonic toast.

“So, who was it this time?” Thomas asks. “A new girl, or did you call on an old favorite?”

I sit down at the table, not in the mood for this. My words leave my mouth with a growl. “I wasn’t with a girl.”

Evan and Lucas look at each other and burst out laughing. “Yeah, right!” Evan hoots. “That’s hilarious.”

“Bro, we know you,” Thomas chimes in. “You’re wearing the same clothes you had on yesterday, you haven’t slept, and…” He sniffs the air around me. “Is that Scotch I smell? You were definitely with a woman.”

I think about the glass of Scotch I shattered on my date with April. Was that really just last night?

“Enough!” I snap. “I told you. I wasn’t with anyone.”

“Whoa, touchy,” Lucas hisses. I ignore him and look at Michael. Next to Gavin, he’s the most serious of all of my brothers. Maybe that’s because he’s an enforcer.

“Do you know where Gavin is?” I ask Michael.

“He’s upstairs in his study,” Michael tells me. “Do you want me to get him?”

I shake my head as I stand up. “I’ll find him. Thanks.”

The room is silent as I leave, but I have no doubt that before I’m halfway up the stairs my brothers will be talking about my bad mood. I don’t care, though. Instead, I take the steps two at a time, eager to talk to Gavin.

My oldest brother is in the study at the end of the hall. Like me, he doesn’t appear to have slept at all. His eyes are shadowed and his clothes are wrinkled.

“Ryder,” Gavin says as I come into the room.

“I need to talk to you,” I say and close the door behind me. I sit down in one of the worn, dark-brown leather chairs on the other side of Gavin’s desk. The top of the desk is bare, and I wonder if Gavin was in here to work or just have a quiet place to think.

“About what?” he asks, leaning back in his own chair, a twin to mine.

“Earlier tonight, I interrupted one of your wolves while he was attacking a woman.”

“What woman?” he asks, his eyes alight with interest.

“Her name is Hannah Kelly. I’d never seen her before.”

“Which wolf?”

“The councilman,” I say, and he looks concerned.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Positive. I pulled him off Hannah and beat him unconscious, tossed him onto the walkway outside her apartment. Then I found him outside her building in some bushes. He was dead, Gavin. Someone destroyed him.” I describe the state of his body, and Gavin’s expression changes from concern to worry.

“And you didn’t see anyone else around?” he questions me after I’ve finished talking.

“No. I sensed the danger, but I didn’t find anyone. I searched all over, but whoever it was had vanished.”

“Where is the body now?”

“I told the pack members to take it to the compound.”

Gavin nods soberly. “I’ll make some calls and begin investigating. But first I’ll examine the body.” He stands up, and I rise too.

“I’d like to handle this,” I tell him.

“Ryder, I’m the alpha. I should be the head of any investigation, especially when it concerns the death of one of my wolves.”

“I understand that,” I reply. “But it’s because you’re the alpha that you should let me take this.” He doesn’t look convinced, so I continue. “Gavin, we don’t know what we’re dealing with here. But it could be really bad. You need to be protected.”

“I can protect myself better than anyone,” he says, offended.

“I don’t mean to imply that you can’t,” I say in a soothing tone. “But you’re too important to the pack to come to any harm. I’m the beta,” I add. “It’s my job to put your safety ahead of anything else, even my own life.”

Gavin softens at my words. “I appreciate that, Ryder.”

“I’ll keep you apprised every step of the way,” I promise. “Just let me lead this.” I think about Hannah. Protecting her is just as important to me as protecting my brother. If I head up the investigation, I can keep track of Hannah and ensure she’s safe.

“All right,” Gavin agrees. “But I want every update. No detail is too small. And, Ryder, if I learn that you’re keeping anything from me…

” His voice trails off, but he doesn’t have to finish that sentence.

I know how much trouble I’ll be in if I keep anything from the alpha of our pack, brother or not.

But I don’t tell him how I feel about Hannah. These feelings are too new and tentative to share with anyone. If I tell Gavin, he’ll have more questions that I can’t answer. And with a dead councilman on our hands, we already have enough unanswered questions.

“Promise me something,” Gavin says.

“Anything.”

“If anyone else turns up dead, I need to be notified immediately.”

“I understand.”

“And if that happens, I’ll take over the investigation,” he adds.

I nod reluctantly. There’s no way I’d be able to talk him out of that if we find another body.

Gavin moves toward the door, and I follow him. “I’d like to be present at the examination,” my brother says. “It’ll help give me an idea of what you’re up against… what we’re all up against. Is that all right?”

I nod, pleased he’s asking permission. “Of course. I value your opinion.” I reach for the doorknob but hesitate. I look at Gavin. “What do you think this could be?”

Gavin shakes his head. “I don’t know. I can’t think of any enemies the councilman had, much less why he’d want to attack a stranger.”

“I can’t either,” I say.

“I do know one thing, though,” my brother says.

“What?” I ask, taking in the troubled expression in his eyes.

“Whoever did this…” he trails off again, but this time I don’t know what he means. I wait and after a few seconds Gavin shakes his head. “The scent that you described, that was on him?”

“Yes?”

“It’s not safe for shifters,” Gavin says darkly. His words spark a fear inside me. And looking at my brother, I see the same fear reflected back.

What was it?